When a person purchases a life insurance policy from an insurance company, the insurance company agrees to provide a benefit to one or more designated beneficiaries upon the occurrence of an insured event. The insurance company and the policy owner enter into a contract, whereby the insurance company agrees to pay a sum of money (the benefit) upon the insured's death (the insured event). In exchange, the policy owner agrees to pay fees at regular intervals (the premiums) in amounts determined based on the insurance company's classification of the individual within its risk classification system. A life insurance policy is typically purchased by or on behalf of an individual to be insured, and upon purchasing the policy the purchaser designates one or more individuals or entities (the beneficiaries) to receive the benefit under the policy if and when an insured event occurs. Typically, the policy owner begins paying premiums coincident to commencement of coverage under the policy.
Sellers of life insurance policies face countervailing concerns when determining who to insure, how much to charge for coverage and the amount of coverage to provide. On one hand, offering customers large benefits at low premiums is a major selling point, and maximizes the number of insurance policies sold. On the other hand, insurance companies expose themselves to a great deal of risk with each insurance policy sold. As an example, if an insurance company sells a policy with a benefit amount of $500,000.00 and monthly premiums of $1,000.00, more than 40 years will elapse before the sum of the premiums received by the insurance company exceeds the benefit amount. If an insured event occurs early in the policy's term (e.g., the insured dies), for instance in the first five years, the insurance company is contractually obligated to distribute a large sum of money after having received only a small sum from premium payments. Insurance companies can mitigate this risk somewhat by increasing premiums, but doing so severely deters potential purchasers of insurance policies.
As a result of the risk inherent in selling life insurance policies, the goal of any life insurance company is to accurately predict the mortality rates of classes of individuals. Life insurance companies define classes based on risk factors, predict mortality rates for each class, and attempt to accurately classify prospective insureds based upon factors believed to be related to life expectancy. To ensure accurate classification of each prospective insured, each policy may be underwritten based on predetermined risk factors such as age, sex, family medical history, the medical history and current health of the individual, motor vehicle records (MVRs), and other pertinent information. Accurate underwriting requires accurate assessment of risk factors, accurate classification of prospective insureds, and, assuming accurate prediction of mortality rates, enables successful mitigation and spreading of risk.
Individual life insurance policies are generally underwritten on either a limited or a comprehensive basis. Limited underwriting typically involves asking the prospective insured a series of questions about his or her medical history and perhaps searching various remote databases to determine information about the prospective insured, such as age, domicile, prescription medication taken, and criminal and driving history. Comprehensive underwriting (also referred to as medical underwriting) typically involves analyzing the results of a series of medical tests and review of attending physician records to verify the answers to a series of questions about the health history of the prospective insured. With comprehensive underwriting, the prospective insured is usually required to provide blood, urine, or other tissue samples to be tested by a laboratory or other medical professional, and the results are submitted to a life insurance underwriter. Based on the results of the medical tests and the prospective insured's answers to the questions, the insurance company classifies the risk associated with the prospective insured by placing them in predefined classes. The insurance company (or other insurer) sets the premiums and benefit amount according to the mortality rates associated with the appropriate classes.
Requiring prospective insureds to undergo extensive medical testing before receiving insurance coverage is a major deterrent to the potential sale of an insurance contract. Besides being deterred by the physical invasiveness inherent in the comprehensive underwriting procedure, prospective insureds often hope to obtain coverage for the full desired amount immediately upon applying for an insurance contract, and always hope to pay a reasonable rate for coverage. Life insurance companies, on the other hand, hope to sell as many policies as possible but also hope to manage risk by not providing coverage without reasonably thorough underwriting, a process that usually takes weeks or even months to complete.
In response to these concerns, methods of selling insurance involving a range of less than comprehensive underwriting have evolved. This range is defined by striking different balances between the invasiveness of the underwriting, the timeliness of the underwriting, and the price paid for initial coverage. Generally, a consumer is provided some amount of coverage immediately upon acceptance by the insurance company of application and payment of a first premium. Both the amount of coverage and the premiums vary, however, based on whether the insured is covered by a simplified issue policy or some form of temporary insurance.
Some insurance companies issue so-called “simplified issue” insurance policies, typically in response to applications with just five or six questions about the health of the prospective insured. A simplified issue policy provides coverage following the insured's representations in the application and payment of the first premium, with coverage beginning upon the insurance company's acceptance of the application for insurance. Simplified issue policies are initially underwritten on a limited basis by asking the prospective insured a short series of questions about the medical history and current health of the prospective insured. Such policies represent a great deal of risk to an insurance company because there is little opportunity to verify the prospective insured's responses to the questions or determine health conditions or other pertinent risk information beyond the few questions answered by the applicant. To mitigate this risk, insurance companies typically charge relatively high premiums for simplified issue coverage and may void the coverage if false answers were provided and death occurs during the policy's contestable period (usually two years).
The life insurance industry has developed alternative mechanisms to provide limited duration life insurance coverage in advance of issuing a medically underwritten policy. One variation includes providing coverage for only a limited time, and typically provides coverage after the insured risk has been underwritten on only a limited basis. Agreements defining such limited coverage typically include limitations on the period of coverage, the face amount available to a beneficiary, and/or the conditions imposed by the insurance company.
One common example of limited duration insurance coverage is coverage provided by agreements known as temporary insurance agreements. These agreements may precede issuance of medically underwritten policies. When it sells a temporary insurance agreement, an insurance company usually agrees to provide insurance coverage for a specified, limited period of time. Typically, this period of time begins to run on a date on which a proposed insured submits to a medical examination. When the specified, limited period of time expires, the insurance company is typically no longer under any obligation to provide coverage of an insured's life under the temporary insurance agreement.
Another common example of limited duration insurance coverage is a type of coverage known as “conditional receipt coverage.” When an applicant receives conditional receipt coverage, the insurance company provides the applicant with a premium receipt which makes the insurance effective only if or when specified conditions are met (e.g. the proposed insured's medical history is as was represented on the application, such that the insurance company issues the policy as applied for). Conditional receipt coverage does not guarantee full coverage until the insured has submitted results of a full battery of medical tests sufficient to enable comprehensive underwriting. Instead, the prospective insured receives conditional coverage between the time the offer for insurance is submitted and the time the underwriter is satisfied by the comprehensive underwriting and the applicant is accepted. If coverage initiated with a conditional receipt continues after comprehensive underwriting, the low premiums reflect a coverage amount equal to the insured's full desired coverage amount provided only after satisfactory completion of comprehensive medical underwriting. Because the comprehensive underwriting provides the insurance company with knowledge of the health of the prospective insured, more accurate classification is possible. Thus, the insurance company can charge lower premiums due to the relatively lesser risk presented by the fully underwritten policy. Satisfaction of the requisite comprehensive medical underwriting, however, requires action on the part of the insured. The insured must submit to an extensive medical examination administered by a qualified physician, a paramedical examiner, or an approved laboratory, and often must submit blood, urine, or other tissue for analysis by a laboratory or other medical professional.
There are downsides to the limited duration methods of providing life insurance in advance of comprehensive underwriting and issuance of the policy desired by the insured. Simplified issue insurance, while it may provide nearly immediate and unconditional coverage, is very expensive to maintain and therefore is not a viable option to many consumers. Temporary insurance agreements, while typically easier to obtain due to coverage being provided temporarily or conditionally in advance of comprehensive medical underwriting, are limited in duration and typically do not satisfy an insured's long-term life insurance needs. Conditional receipt coverage depends for the satisfaction of the condition upon submitting to a rigorous medical testing regimen. If the medical testing is not performed soon after applying for the policy, the policy will not be issued and any temporary coverage will lapse after a short period. Because many potential insureds fail to obtain the required tests in a timely fashion, many who apply for policies never become insured as planned. Even among those who do submit to the required testing, the results of the medical tests may result in the discovery of risk factors that cause the insurance company to classify prospective insureds such that premiums are so high as to be unaffordable, or result in the insurance company making counter offers for higher premiums or lesser amounts of insurance. If medical testing is performed and the results indicate a classification other than as applied for, the insurance company's obligation is usually limited to a return of premiums.